Our BirdTrack app is designed to draw large numbers of people into the fun and value of systematic recording, including people who do not normally take part in surveys. We chose the app-based approach for three reasons:

• Use of the Internet is an efficient way of getting large numbers of records from large numbers of participants.
• Rapid feedback is important in BirdTrack, observations are incorporated into the public outputs every night.
• There are people who are much more interested using an app to record and send us data compared to using paper and post.

It would have been nice to be able to allow people also to submit data on paper but we do not have the resources to set up what would in effect be a parallel project. We apologise to those who, as a result, may feel excluded. When you are entering records online your data goes directly onto the BirdTrack database. This saves us valuable administrative time and costs, and gives us the opportunity to provide rapid results, for example the daily results pages and the animated maps. It also makes your records immediately accessible to local bird recorders, providing you have given permission for us to make your records available in this way.

No. It's never too late to take part in BirdTrack. We welcome records from any time during the year. Ideally we would like recorders to submit records throughout the year, but we appreciate that may not always be possible for everyone. The BirdTrack app will also allow you to enter data for earlier years so you can add historic observations from any paper records you may have kept too, which would be valuable and help increase the depth and breadth of our understanding.

No, you don't need to be an expert to take part. You can submit a Casual Record to the BirdTrack survey for the species that you do know. You can also use the list recording system to record lists of the species that you are able to identify. However, if you are seeing substantial numbers of birds that you can't identify please don't check the box to say that the list is complete.

We run bird identification training courses throughout the year to help people who are new to birdwatching develop their knowledge, skill and confidence at birdwatching. These training courses are usually held online so you don't need to travel to Thetford (UK) to take advantage of them. Concessions may also be available on some courses to help people with low incomes participate. 

We also have an extensive set of bird ID videos that can help you learn to identify birds and distinguish between “confusion species”.

Yes. BirdTrack is a great project for getting children enthused about birds and migration. Register your school grounds as a site and record the birds that you see and hear. There are already a number of schools participating. You could also encourage pupils to watch out for migrants on their way to and from school. If you have any questions about how to participate as a school, please email birdtrack@bto.org and we'll be happy to help.

Donwload BirdTrack

Download the BirdTrack mobile app from Google Play (for Android) or the App Store (for Apple) on your mobile device, search for BirdTrack, and select 'Install'. 

Register for BirdTrack

If you already have a MyBTO account: 

• Log in to MyBTO
• Then look for BirdTrack under "Sign Up for Projects" and click "Register".

If you don't have a MyBTO account: 

• Create a free MyBTO account
• Then look for BirdTrack under "Sign Up for Projects" and click "Register".

After you have registered, you can use your MyBTO log in details to access the BirdTrack online portal or log in to the BirdTrack mobile app. 

To download the BirdTrack mobile app, visit Google Play (for Android) or the App Store (for Apple) on your mobile device, search for BirdTrack, and select 'Install'. 

BirdTrack is free to use and creating a MyBTO account is also free. 

We have calculated that 1MB of data transferred can account for:

• Verifying and uploading approximately 175 species lists of 30 species average, or
• Verifying and uploading about 2,400 casual records.

We think this is quite a lot, and shouldn't impact on your monthly contact limits.

Yes. We've created a short and sweet guide to help you start using the BirdTrack online portal. If you have any questions, please email birdtrack@bto.org and we'll try our best to help.

Please see our guide to adding new records. If you have any questions, please email birdtrack@bto.org and we'll try our best to help.

Please only record the species that you can confidently identify.

“If in doubt, leave it out.”

We run bird identification training courses throughout the year to help people who are new to birdwatching develop their knowledge, skill and confidence at birdwatching. These training courses are usually held online so you don't need to travel to Thetford (UK) to take advantage of them. Concessions may also be available on some courses to help people with low incomes participate. 

We also have an extensive set of bird ID videos that can help you learn to identify birds and distinguish between “confusion species”.

Please see our guide to adding extra detail to records. If you have any questions, please email birdtrack@bto.org and we'll try our best to help.

Please see our guide to adding other wildlife to BirdTrack. If you have any questions, please email birdtrack@bto.org and we'll try our best to help.

Yes. When compiling a list, the app will automatically tot up additional sightings of the same species. If you add a species without a count, the record will be considered 'present only' and no count will be stored. The app will also take the highest breeding evidence and sensitivity setting added for each species, and concatenate any comments for you.

Yes. Each individual sighting is fully editable by long-pressing on it and editing any field.

Yes!

Yes!

Please see our guide to uploading historical records to BirdTrack. If you have any questions, please email birdtrack@bto.org and we'll try our best to help.

Please see our guide to viewing your life and year lists on BirdTrack. If you have any questions, please email birdtrack@bto.org and we'll try our best to help.

We recognise the growing popularity of auto-ID tools that use audio or image inputs to provide species identification, but we currently ask volunteers not to solely rely on these tools when submitting data to us.

• Please read our full statement on the use of auto-id tools for more detail and clarity.
• If you have any questions, please email birdtrack@bto.org and we'll try our best to help.

Yes. Often the best approach is to use the Roving Records Form. This allows you to enter one-off records. Complete lists from individual sites are very valuable even if you only make a single visit. Ideally we would like you to make regular visits to a site as this provides the most valuable information. Remember that whatever data you can contribute will be combined with that from other birdwatchers to improve our knowledge of bird populations in the UK.

Absolutely. It is unlikely that someone is recording in exactly the same place as you. Even if there is more than one person recording from a well-known nature reserve such as Cley Marshes, we are able to identify this (from grid references) and only use the record once. You might actually record more birds and different species during your visit! If you go birdwatching in a group we would prefer it if only one copy of your list was entered into BirdTrack. If you would like us to help you set up a group account, please email the BirdTrack Organiser at birdtrack@bto.org.

This is to avoid potential duplicates (and inevitable confusion) between the phone and BirdTrack online, and also to prevent excessive phone memory being used.

This can happen when you are on a marginal cellular connection or on the edge of WiFi coverage. Please connect to the server when you are sure you have a strong, stable signal. All assuming you have a BirdTrack account already, of course!

If you declined Location Services on the iPhone by accident, click on phone Settings > Privacy > Location Services to re-enable.

On Android, switch GPS on through phone Settings > Location & Security > Use GPS satellites.

We have adopted the counties that are described by the Local Authority Districts, Counties and Unitary Authorities (1998). These counties are not necessarily the same as those used by county bird clubs. These counties are used mainly to check for serious errors in grid references. Provided that you supply us with a reasonably accurate grid reference we will be able to conduct analyses based on other boundaries in the future.

We have adopted the Government Office Regions to present our regional results.

• Read the ONS guide for more information.

You can update or correct the email address from within the BirdTrack app. Once you have logged in as yourself, click on the My Details button (above 'Your options'). Then simply enter your new email address in the box provided. You can also update your email address, name and contact details inside your MyBTO account and the changes will be reflected in your BirdTrack account.

The information we have suggests that the app will work on newer iPads only - it will not work on first generation iPads.

No, sadly we don't have the resources to develop for those more specialist platforms. iOS and Android are the biggest market share, and we target our limited resources into developing this free app on those platforms.

Due to resource limitations, we can only develop apps for the latest iPhone operating system release. This may mean that users will have to update to stay in line with Apple releases. BTO has no control over this.